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WEC at a crossroads: Series must have strong LMP1 class, or else

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As the lone U.S. appearance draws near for the FIA World Endurance Championship — that would be the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas on Sept. 16 — you still have to wonder if the series realizes the massive bullet it dodged at the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans.It would not have been disastrous for the actual race so much, but for the series’ tightly wound, carefully crafted structure. In June, there were six LMP1 cars filling the first three rows: Toyotas on the front, Porsches third and fourth, a final Toyota in fifth and a nonhybrid Nismo entry that was never a factor.

A slim lead grid, after long-dominating Audi pulled out at the end of 2016 to go ­Formula E racing.

All three Toyotas broke or crashed; one was able to limp home in eighth. Both Porsches had problems, and the lead, stunningly, went to the No. 38 ­Jackie Chan (yes, that Jackie Chan) DC Racing Oreca. An LMP2 car. Using, like almost all the 23 P2 entries, a spec Oreca chassis. With a spec Gibson 4.2-liter V8, which doesn’t even have direct injection, all the cars sound the same, and they’re expected to run the same speed. Fortunately for the WEC, and for Porsche, the No. 2 Porsche LMP1 team rallied back and won, only a single lap ahead of Chan’s entry.

So what if an LMP2 car had won? And wins again?

Well, manufacturers pay the bills for the FIA and WEC. They buy advertising. They sponsor the broadcasts.

Porsche says it will pull the plug on its LMP1 program in the World Endurance Championship after the current season. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

But why aren’t manufacturers part of LMP2? Because, according to the WEC, the P2 cars “are destined only to teams independent of manufacturers and/or engine suppliers.”

The WEC made a clear call: No factory involvement in P2. For privateers only. Let the manufacturers fight it out in LMP1 and in the LMGTE Pro class. The problem is, the manufacturers have abandoned LMP1. Audi is gone, Porsche is leaving at the end of 2017 to, like Audi, go Formula E racing.

That leaves Toyota wondering what to do next. If it returns to LMP1 in 2018—assuming the FIA and WEC allow it—Toyota would certainly have its best shot at a first Le Mans victory. But, critics say, it would be a hollow victory with no competition. Even worse, suppose it loses to an LMP2 team?

The WEC insists that, “because of their superior performances and level of technological development,” all the Prototype classes “have a star status within endurance racing,” which is why only the fast-fizzling LMP1 cars have manufacturer connections. Do you think, had the Jackie Chan No. 38 DC Racing Oreca/Gibson had won, Oreca or Gibson would spend millions advertising that ­victory or touting the technological advances that came from it? Unless you are a sports-car endurance racer, Oreca and Gibson—a small British engine builder that used to be called Zytek—have nothing to sell anyone. Nor do they have staffs ready to crank out press releases and arrange interviews. Have you seen anybody wearing a “Go Gibson” T-shirt?

If an LMP2 car wins Le Mans, or any WEC race overall, the lack of interest could be devastating.

While the LMGTE class has produced great racing in the WEC, but it's the LMP1 class that gets the most world-wide attention. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

That’s one issue the WEC has—here’s another: Gibson will supply its Gibson GK428 engine to “all the LMP2 teams competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship, the Le Mans 24 Hours, the European Le Mans Series and the Asian Le Mans Series (from 2019 onward),” says the company. The deal with the FIA is through the 2020 season.

In the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Prototype cars are essentially the same as the FIA WEC’s LMP2 cars. They run basically the same car, built by one of several manufacturers, and they can run the Gibson engine if they want.

But here’s the (massive) problem: Every manufacturer wants to race at Le Mans. That includes the IMSA Prototype teams from Cadillac, Nissan, Mazda and, next year, the Roger Penske-backed ­Acura. While those manufacturers are happy to run an “approved” car from builders like Ligier and Oreca, capped at a cheap $520,000 by the ACO, no way can Cadillac, Mazda, Nissan or Acura run a Gibson engine.

The battle for the overall win at Le Mans in 2018 could be between Toyota and a host of privateers. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

If the FIA would loosen its engine requirements and allow other manufacturers to supply engines alongside Gibson — and those existing engines already are, in IMSA, limited to about 600 hp, same as the Gibson—then the FIA WEC could bring major factory involvement back to the 24 Hours of Le Mans prototype class and beyond. Hell, they can even rename the LMP2 class LMP1 if they want.

And there is “a group of manufacturers that are pushing for that very thing,” we were told by one of those manufacturers a week ago. The FIA would have to write a check to Gibson, we’d suspect, but there are few other roadblocks.

Already, though, the FIA has outlined LMP1 rules for 2020. The cars would have to complete the first kilometer of the race, after every pit stop, on electric power only. And they would have to finish the race on electric power only. The cars would be plugged in to recharge during those pit stops. New safety cells for drivers will have to be created, as will active aerodynamics. That dead silence you hear is the lack of enthusiasm from manufacturers after hearing that announcement.

Porsche, of course, dumped LMP1 a month later. The WEC responded by noting that Porsche “has been actively involved in the development of the technical regulations that will come into force in 2020.”

Yes. Well. Maybe it’s time for the ACO to put its figurative finger into the air, instead of pointing it at Porsche, to check which way the wind is blowing. The ACO bet against Formula E — and lost.

Time to bring in the ships and set a new course if the ACO and the FIA, which bill themselves as “guardians of the existence and quality of the FIA World Endurance Championship,” want it to continue.